Monday, December 13, 2010

Greetings, everybody. It’s Letty again (it’s about time, really), and I’m here to give you guys an update concerning what’s been happening the world of Rosenkreuzstilette and Schwer and Schwer Alike. It’s been a while, and I owe everyone an apology for that. I promise to be a little more attentive to this thing, mostly since I’m starting to have a reason to care again. There’s much to be done in the coming days, and it’s about time we get started on it!

I’m going to begin with the first thing that everyone’s dying to know about: the status of Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel. And that status is… I don’t know. The Comiket 79 catalog is out now, and [erka:es], in true IseWOMI fashion, is absent from the line-up, meaning that the game clearly will not be released at this winter’s Comic Market. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all we know. There hasn’t been any significant update to the [erka:es] website since the end of last August, and not a single update either on this month or November. Back in September, there was a response to an e-mail from one “Danielu Yoshikoto” that, as far as I can tell, translates to “RKS:F is still being worked on, and we hope we’ll be done with it soon.” That’s pretty much the last thing we’ve heard about Freudenstachel. Is it done? Is it close to being done? Did they start over? We don’t know, and until they say something else, we won’t. Patience is a virtue, as they say, so we’ll have to show some virtue for this one.

Speaking of, I’m finally in a position to start up that interview I’d been wanting to hold, so hopefully within the week, I’ll get in contact with [erka:es] so I can ask them personally about the Freudenstachel status and some of the intricacies of the original game. I found myself browsing the Wiki again recently, and I really don’t know where some of that information comes from. I’ve pretty much reserved myself to not worry about it until I get better information anyway, but until then, everything there, unless pretty obvious, should be taken with a grain of salt.

Now, on to greater things. Ravy Comics continues to be straight-up atrocious, but I’ve got to hand it to the guy for figuring out some of what he has in the world of “hacking” RKS (though I can’t say I approve of all of it) and for supporting [erka:es] in his own way. That said, one of his little guides includes a way of putting the English script into RKS version 1.06a, since the current patch isn’t compatible with it. If you want to do that workaround by simply copying the scenario.dat file over, you’re more than welcome to, but there’s a reason we haven’t updated the English patch for compatibility, and no, it’s not because TDOMMX has a new job (or because he can't update his own site due to an evil Digimon that took over his computer). It’s actually because we’re doing it over. There was a lot of bad blood between TDO and myself by the end of the project, mostly due to his problems with the Grolla script, and as a result, things didn’t turn out the way we hoped. Because of this, we’ve decided to revamp the entire translation for both Spiritia and Grolla for one final, completed work. I can’t imagine that Spiritia’s script will be too much different, but we’ll see. Here’s the details of the revamp:

The scripts will be rewritten using the current script, the translations we already have from Tanin and Akira, and finally, a new translation done by Ryusui of Watercrown Productions (you may know him from his re-translation of Capcom's Breath of Fire II). Exciting, I know! I will personally handle all of the rewriting with full roundtable discussions over the new script revision (if you’re interested in participating in this, feel free to send us a line about it). Once that’s done, we’ll work on changing the necessary .dat files, as well as hacking the .exe, to bring the script to the new version. But that’s not all! We hope to get some of the original image files for the game, so we can do some more-complete image editing. It’ll make everything feel a little more perfect to us, and in turn, it’ll be better for you all. What’s the ETA on this, you ask? We’ll let you know when we find out.

The art contest is still being worked on. I feel really bad about not having been able to do anything about it before, as a number of circumstances in and outside of my life screwed that up, but it is still on the horizon. The contest will begin anew after we complete the first physical English release of the game. That way, we’ll actually have a prize to send out. Of course, Kiora’s Rosenkreuzstilette AfterStory doujinshi is still out there to be won, and there WILL be a new item up for grabs in the contest. What is that item, you ask? Let’s just say that some people like playing dress-up. That’s all the clue you get!

Grolla novelization is still happening, but first, I’m working on a re-Let’s Play of Rosenkreuzstilette. “Letty!” you may be saying. “That game has been LP’d, like, a million times! Why can’t you be original?” Well, truth be told, I made the very first Let's Play for the game, and I’m absolutely ashamed of it. I want to redeem myself and create something worthy of the game while adding in some tidbits of information and little bonuses that you may or may not find anywhere else. It’s fun, right? Right. So I’m working on that first.

That’s really all I can think to say for now. Please support [erka:es] by purchasing their game if you haven’t already. Heck, e-mail us a picture or copy of your receipt from DLSite (important info taken out, of course), and I might even give you something, even if it’s a little mention here or in a video. Any and all Freudenstachel updates can be found here, as usual, and we’ll keep you up to speed the best we can. Thanks for reading! If I forgot anything, I’ll append it later.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Hi everyone. I really hate to say this, but it appears some terrible news has just spread regarding the full release of ~Freudenstachel~. According to Isemiya's long-awated blog update (translated), it appears as if RKSF has been delayed once again. How long? Well, I'm not exactly sure how long they plan to delay it this time, but it will probably be up to December 2010 (Winter Comiket 79) or even worse: August 2011 (Summer Comiket 80).

Monday, August 2, 2010

Hey everyone. It's your old pal Letty, here with a much-needed update to Schwer and Schwer Alike about some things that have been going on and need to be addressed. I apologize for my long absence, and while I won't be around as prevalently as I was, I'll be here more often to say and do what needs to be done and face Grollschwert consequences.

First of all, I haven't forgotten about the art contest. It didn't work out as I had planned, so instead of the original resolution, everyone who participated will be receiving a special gift courtesy of Schwer and Schwer Alike with a special prize being awarded to the "winner" as chosen by our glorious panel of judges. I hope this is an outcome that will benefit everyone.

Second, it seems there have been some issues involving our English RKS Wiki, mostly in the realm of argumentative debate (see past comments), so in order to ease tensions and get some accurate information, I will be making an attempt to interview [erka:es] some time in the future, asking them questions about the story of RKS, behind-the-scenes stuff, and the future of RKS Forever... err, Freudenstachel. This will help greatly improve the accuracy of the original RKS script and help us better understand the world of RKS.

Finally, because I'm trying to get back into honing my own writing skills, I will be authoring a fan novelization of Rosenkreuzstilette -Grollschwert-. It is not to be considered canon, of course, and will feature a re-telling of Grolla's journey to both battle the forces of the Holy Empire and stop Iris from beginning her reign of terror. The novelization will most likely be done in light novel format, complete with a small collection of illustrations. It is a project I am very much looking forward to working on, and it should be completed at some point before the holiday season.

That's all for this update. I'll be back at a later time to address some other things. If you have any questions for [erka:es], please include them in the comments, and I will do my best to compile the best ones. I want everything involving our RKS community to get better, and hopefully, this will be the first start. Thanks.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Hello there Schwer and Schwer Alike readers, it's Justin, here with some things to say about recent events about the Rosenkreuzstilette series.

Besides that little preview of Trauare's sprite during development shown in the previous post, there has not been any official updates from [erka:es] regarding RKS in general since November last year. One good thing is that the full release of ~Freudenstachel~ is just a few months away. I predict it will come around August 15th, 2010 the latest, so it's great to know the wait for the first official sequel to RKS is almost over, unless it get pushed ahead (which we hope doesn't happen, since Freudenstachel has gone through three long years in development, and two playable demos).

The RKS Wiki, in my personal view, is currently looking well, aside from a lack of a logo and suitable color scheme, but the well-written content on the wiki is what makes up for it. It's one of the most well-written wikis that I've ever seen (how everything is written, not how accurate to RKS the information is, and I'd like to thank everyone for your great contributions, and for making the Wiki great. And there are also a few noteworthy things that have been posted on Grolla's Dungeon that are somewhat worth checking out. (And since we're on the topic of the Dungeon, I'd love to remove all the cruddy advertisements, but I don't have any spare change to by the "credits" needed to do so.)

Now let's talk about deviantART for a second, just to get it out of the way. Now I'll agree with Viper and say that it is true, there haven't been much on DA to change the somewhat bad reputation of artwork done by the English, but it is slowly (and I mean slowly) increasing thanks to the removal of artwork that should have never seen the lights of day (anything anti-RKS or Super C$ap "fanart"). In fact, not too long ago, I posted two things we could do to get RKS more well-known on deviantART. The first method being the commissioning of multiple artists already on dA with great talent, and the second is the upload of RKS artwork (both official and unofficial) by the original Japanese authors themselves on deviantART. It may seem difficult, but those are the only two methods I can think of.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

With thanks to SuperJustinBros. for taking some time looking into mof-mof, WOMI's NSFW homepage (and I do mean not safe for work or school), we have a first glimpse of Trauare Wrede's in-game sprite from Rosenkreuzstilette ~Freudenstachel~ and how it's made.

So for those who look down at MS Paint as an inferior art program for Windows PC: Who says MS Paint sucks now?

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hello everyone, ViperAcidZX here just to let out some drifting thoughts that's been going on his head for a while on this blog post.

Well it's been over a month since Letty has anytime to drop by at Schwer and Schwer Alike while dealing with his own personal issues. So far we have yet to hear any news coming from him or anyone else in this blog regarding his situation. So with that, all I can say to that is please keep Letty in your thoughts and prayers. God willing he needs all the support he can get from the rest of us... Another thing I'd like to add is that we're a long ways away from the eventual release of Rosenkreuzstilette ~Freudenstachel~ at summer Comiket. Either that, or more unfortunate events towards [erka:es] that will cause them to miss out on summer Comiket, and many fans will be forced to wait even longer until winter.

Now as for the deviantArt section of the Rosenkreuzstilette's English fanbase: I really hate to say this, but through Letty's point of view, I'm not seeing any improvements that's going to change deviantArt's already terrible reputation of "bad" Rosenkreuzstilette fan-art (i.e. steohen2's terrible attempt of making Trauare Wrede). Finding any that's particularly any good is just as Letty said in a previous blog post, "digging through the rough". An example of any recent fan-art of Rosenkreuzstilette that I would consider to be good is this rather cute artwork of Freudia Neuwahl by Yami-Mizore. Have a look.

I get the feeling that deviantArt is never going to have its share of quality fan-art for Rosenkreuzstilette, such as this artwork of Patchouli Knowledge from the Touhou Project, anytime soon. Probably not in decades. And I'd like to blame on past events committed against the Rosenkreuzstilette fandom (both English and Japanese) and [erka:es]. I, unfortunately, am going through some artist problems myself; the lack of motivation steaming from my frustration of my already sucky artistic talents as it is has prevented me from picking the pencil and trying to do something.

Speaking of Touhou, I'd like to introduce the readers, Touhou fans and 4koma fans of Schwer and Schwer Alike to something that will keep them busy for a while until Letty's return. I enjoy this this 4koma series very much. To all Schwer and Schwer Alike readers: I would to introduce to you all to colonel_aki's Touhou ~ Life of Maid.

For those who don't know about this 4koma series, Touhou ~ Life of Maid is a 4koma series that centers the daily lives of the Scarlet Devil Mansion residence (Remilia and Flandre Scarlet, Patchouli Knowledge, Sakuya Izayoi, Hong Meiling) with other characters from the Touhou series. I consider this to be "the Lucky Star of Touhou 4komas"; colonel_aki combines a cute art-style with very witty humor that's guaranteed to bring a smile on the reader's face. A lot of the humor comes from the fannon-related stuff that the Touhou series is known for, such as Yuyuko being a glutton and Patchouli being an otaku. But when colonel_aki makes Patchouli into an otaku, there no words to describe it.

There's also some suggestive humor in this 4koma series (such as PAD jokes and Sakuya's insecurities of her lack of bust size, because Sakuya is actually flat or small-chested in the Touhou series) and some references to video games and anime that you'd expect to see from Lucky Star made in Touhou ~ Life of Maid. And the beauty of it all is that there is no actual dialogue, but the readers can grasp what's going on in the 4komas that even English readers will have a laugh of what's going on. This is a 4koma that I highly recommend for 4koma fans and Touhou fans to check out.

You can read this 4koma series at colonel_aki's pixiv page (which he also has other artworks that's worth checking out, such as his Lucky Star fan-art and you can see where his inspiration comes from), or this collection dedicated to Touhou ~ Life of Maidhere at Danbooru. Be warned though, Danbooru has NSFW ads for h-games and perverted merchandises from the J-List. You have been warned. While I'm on the subject of Touhou ~ Life of Maid, KamiNekoYu of YouTube has created an animated version of the 4koma series, granted they're not in chronological order of the 4komas.

P.S. If anyone at deviantArt was offended by my earlier comments, I do not intend to offend anybody (except for steohen2 and his "Trauare") and I apologize for it. But if you insist in pointing your rage at someone, pleasedirected it towards me. Thank you.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Given the rather bumpy turn of events these past few days, I'm glad to see that the week has ended on a high note.

While Mint is sorting things out on his end, here's something for you to enjoy in the meantime. I'm very pleased to report that the full English localization of ef - a fairy tale of the two has finally been released. This is all thanks to the tireless efforts of No Name Losers, a group which Akira and I have had the pleasure of working with in the past. ef is a very touching story, and I'm proud that an English version has finally seen the light of day.

You can read the full details here. It's a free standalone release, so no purchase is necessary. If you're still on the fence:

Sunday, April 25, 2010

I see that many of the Schwer and Schwer Alike regulars aren't pleased about the contest's deadline being extended indefinitely. I'd like to make an official statement about this development on Mint's behalf since he has no way of doing so himself at the moment. I should note that the comment I made to the previous post was written before I knew what had happened, and I'm sorry to say that my speculation couldn't have been further off the mark.

Without going into too much detail, Mint has been hit with some serious financial and social problems - so much that it's actually impossible for him to update this blog himself or do anything related to the contest, the v1.06 patch, or even the everyday necessities that so many of us take for granted. I wish I could elaborate and give you all a better grasp of the situation, but this is a tough time for Mint and I feel I should at least try to respect his privacy. Considering the amount of unjustified drama that has visited this site in the past, we don't want to start something by letting our MVP go AWOL; Mint never intended for any of this to happen, and he very much wants to make this up to everyone once his life is under control. How, exactly, we have no way of knowing just yet.

I'd like to ask for your patience as Mint gets back on his feet. If I were a religious sort, I'd probably ask for you to keep him in your thoughts and prayers. In any event, I'll be updating the blog in his stead as the situation changes; let's just hope that "no news" actually does mean "good news" this time.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Hey, everybody! It's your old pal Letty! Some crazy things happened, and now my access to the internet is somewhat limited. As a result, I have not been able to do much of anything in regards to this contest or anything else. I will return when things are back to normal, but until then, the contest deadline has been extended indefinitely until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience. You'll be seeing me again when my life is less hectic and a little more... energized.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Alright, so here's the deal. E-mails have been sent, messages have been received, and now we're good to go on the grand finale! Time for my big announcement!

In addition to Kiora's Rosenkreuzstilette Unofficial Afterstory doujinshi, the grand prize winner of this contest will also receive a special, personalized physical English copy of Rosenkreuzstilette ~The Blades of the Rose Cross~! That's right! What's more is that WOMI sent me a special [erka:es] logo specifically for the game case, so you'll be receiving a one-of-a-kind Schwer and Schwer Alike exclusive! Isn't that exciting!? I hope you think so!

The fan contest ends in about 5 days, so if you want this awesome piece of work, snap to it! I'm not sure when we'll be announcing winners, but I'll be keeping everyone posted. Good luck!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Yea, I'm going to extend this deadline by two weeks, meaning that all entries for the contest are due on April 15, 2010. Real life as well as a little procrastination have prevented me from getting a few things done on the contest front, but I am happy to announce that our good friend Kiora will be a judge for your entries! That said, if I can get the last bit of this done, a huge surprise will be in store for the winner! So get to it, everyone! I'll compile the entries I do have soon and will report back with an amount both here and via my Twitter account. We'll see what happens!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Just added this to KreuzChannel. Give it a listen. It's pretty sweet. It's also quiet as hell, because Windows Live Movie Maker sucks. Further info on the tracks can be found in the YouTube video description.

Also, we may be looking at an extension on the deadline for the fan contest. I'll get back to you on that.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

With a little less than a month left, the deadline for the contest is approaching fast! I haven't actually received any entries yet, so I'll just assume everyone is hard at work on their contributions! Well, our good friend Kiora has provided us with this excellent poster! I encourage all of you to use it to help spread the word of this contest, and let's make this a success!

Remember, everyone. This is not an art contest. This is a fan contest. You can submit anything from stories to pictures to sculptures to cosplay photos. Whatever you do to show your fandom is fair game, and everyone is eligible! Show us your heart!

I've still got to iron out a few things with prizes and judging, but that should be handled by the time the deadline rolls around and definitely by the time the winner announcements are made. Stay tuned for that, and once again, let's show [erka:es] the might and glory of the RKS fan community!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Ahh, Ravy Comics. Joe Pullin seems like a pretty cool guy. I mean, he links to us (and RKS on DLsite!) and likes RKS, so he's always welcome around here to talk about things and post and read and whatever! I'm pretty sure he's even posted in our comments section, though I don't recall seeing his name. Probably under some anonymous tag, which is fine, I think.

That said, he's calling me out. Nah, he didn't mention lil' ol' Letty Whiterock by name, but you can click that link up there and see for yourself. It doesn't take an Iris with a Death-Note-God-Complex to see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Anyways, I figure I'll publicly address the points from his latest episode of Ranty Comics/Ravy-kreuzstilette/SaSA Sucks and Letty Sucks and Here's Why.

---

First of all, Mr. Pullin, TDOMMX and I have to hand it to you for figuring out how to get past the .dat file requirement. It makes perfect sense, but it's something neither of us really thought about it, for obvious reasons. Let me go ahead and address two things from your entry, though.

"I've been wondering why the .dat files are even there. Why aren't they compiled into the .exe? Are the .dat files generated by the program that erka:es used to make RKS? Are they a security device to keep people like me from being able to easily rip the graphics and turn them into comic strips?"

Do you wonder this about everything that has .dat files? In many cases, .dat files are nothing more than containers the game reads from; in this case, they contain graphic files, music files, etc. Rather than kept in accessible folders, they're compiled into files that require some sort of decompiler to extract. There are a number of reasons for this, and I can think of at least one: the readme.txt files included in both RKS and RKSF contain links to the websites of the musicians whose works are included in the games, artists such as AM3, Vampire Revolution, and you-fulca (Wingless Seraph). Have you noticed that some of the tracks are not included on their websites and that they actually have albums? If the songs were not in some way attained through monetary compensation, they were probably licensed, and to respect the artists' wishes, they are protected from being given out freely. Of course, the creation and release of the RKSDAD breaks these conventions, but not much can be done about that at this point, right? In fact, that's one of the reasons why TDOMMX was initially opposed to releasing it.

"However when playing RKS the whole song doesn't play. Only about five to five-and-a-half seconds is played. The rest is cut off. I have been having a bear of a time trying to find a song to fit in there. I can't even get Megaman X4 stage start edited correctly."

Maybe you're just doing it wrong.

Of course, that's not why we're here. After all, if you were just talking about that, you'd get a mention, maybe, but you certainly wouldn't get a long-winded article! I like you, but I don't think I like you that much! I kid, I kid. Anyways, scrolling down on your professionally-formatted entry, I discovered a section entitled "Hatred by RKS." Initially, I believed this to be an incredible new Zorne-based fragrance in the long line of Rosenkreuzstilette high-class perfumes, but it seems I was mistaken. Oh no, this was the beginning of an epic tale of treachery and tragedy, not unlike the great Greek and Roman classics of yore. Let us jump deep into this rabbit hole and play the Alice Game, the Most Dangerous Game, the one you just lost. I will leave the lot of you to read the entry itself and gather what you will from it.

Letty Whiterock, the creator of this fine establishment, is an MFer. That's right. I'm a Magnificent Fan. At least, that's what Joe Pullin, creator of the magnificent Ravy Comics, thinks. The Magnificent Fans are those who take solace in the misfortune of others by scouring the internet for terrible Rosenkreuzstilette pictures and fanfiction, bringing them to the light, holding them high above for the world to gaze upon, and then dropping them from said height to watch them shatter like a beautiful, priceless vase stolen from deep within one of the most illustrious art museums this world has to offer. I don't know which one that is, but it exists, and I'm sure the priceless vases within are astounding. We then dance around the broken remains of the work, letting forth our tribal cries, before offering them to Iris Sepperin herself, the all-powerful successor of the mighty sun god.

Letty Whiterock is also a critic, a reviewer of works. Whether I am a constructive critic is left to your opinions, but I am a critic nonetheless. As such, one of the things that I do is rate and review things; in your supplied instance, I reviewed a number of images found on both pixiv and DeviantArt. This is apparently me going to sites and trashing art that doesn't follow RKS styling. Shall we revisit the DeviantArt entry, the one that people seem to have the most issues with? Let's do just that! New commentary time!

---------------------

In the pixiv showcase, I actually gave praise to a SuperJustin work, in case anyone missed it. That said, this picture sucks. Sorry, it's just crappy. The proportions are awkward, the lines are jagged and squiggly, making the entire picture look like it's about to cry, and the shading is nonsensical. Now, why would I say such terrible things about this piece? Because NO ONE ELSE WILL. Go look at the comments. Go look at MOST DeviantArt comments. Nothing but praise, very little negative criticism. No one improves on praise alone. That's the way of the world.

---------------------

This picture suffers from the same problems as the Justin picture above. While the styling is fine, the proportions are off, it's terribly colored, and that face is just atrocious. Again, Trumi apologized for the flaws after the fact and changed the initial description, taking out the "Grolla's an inquisitor!" part. Take a look at Trumi's main page, and look at his latest picture of Fran from Final Fantasy XII. That's pretty good, actually! You know what that is? That's a sign of improvement. Did my criticism have anything to do with that? Probably not. However, if it did, beautiful. That's why I do this, and I would expect people to do the same of anything I do. I just happen to take a tough love approach.

---------------------

PROPORTIONS. PRO. POR. TIONS. If you want to turn someone into a Jigglypuff or a Pikachu or a Kirby, go for it. If you do, though, at least pay attention to your own work, and don't give Zorne a left arm that looks like a rake. Also, that bomb is going to fall out of her hand. Just saying. I do not hate this artist, and I do not hate this concept. That does not change the fact that this picture is bad.

---------------------

I liked this one. Most of her work has a level of amateur charm and cuteness to it, especially things like this Schwer, which, as Justin pointed out and YukoHana admitted, has a messed-up looking hood. This is trash-talking?

---------------------

This is a screenshot. Fuck you.

---------------------

This, like YukoHanna's, has a level of amateur charm that comes off as cute in a way, and it's a comic with a joke that I actually found funny, probably because I read "bloody" in a British way, and it tickled me. It's up there with this, from which I used Grolla's face as an avatar for a while. The art is not grand, but it works, because it's a comic. They are not supposed to be Michaelangelo's works. Comics are made to entertain, and this succeeded for me!

---------------------

This picture is flat-out gone, and I didn't really hate on it outside of saying it was fairly mediocre. It was average at best, but my biggest issue was the fact that the characters were not listed as "girls from RKS" but as "Richard Refraktia's sisters." That's not who they are. That's never who they were. There was a huge problem with canon/fanon crossover, something I will be addressing later!

---------------------

Most of the people he draws have a specialness about them, and sometimes, that specialness is that the look like they've stretched and/or squished between a car and a bookshelf. I liked Grolla's sword but disliked her portrayed frailty. Grolla's a badass, and I feel she should always be portrayed as one.

---------------------

I don't know who this is. This isn't Trauare. This is not RKS art. This shouldn't even be here. Don't label it Trauare. It's not Trauare.

---------------------

Proportions are good (though her head is a big; whatever, she's an anime character)! Detail and shading are excellent! Grolla is both hot and badass! I praised this. A lot. No trash-talking here.

---------------------

There is nothing wrong with fan art. I happen to draw terrible fan art sometimes myself! However, if you put a picture into the ether and want absolutely no criticism and have no desire to improve as an artist, then don't bother putting your work up for the world to see. One of the aspects of being an artist is perfecting your form, and criticism must be accepted and applied if you hope to achieve some level of experience and progress. A lot of artists on pixiv and DeviantArt didn't just pick up a pen and start animating Touhou flash videos. They practiced, they improved, and they made something happen. Many took criticism from teachers and peers and applied it to better their works. And it shows. Yeah, there will be haters who simply bash your work for no reason, regardless of what it is or your desire to improve. One of the things that both Kiora and myself got on Justin about was that his work lacked heart and it seemed as though he had no desire to improve. Well, looking at his more recent pieces, it appears that he has taken this to heart and is actually improving in a lot of ways. Good for him! That's what being an artist is about. Prepare to get shot down a lot. Use those as stepping stones to move forwards.

But we are not finished yet! There is so much more to your entry, Mr. Joe Pullin, creator of the award-winning, published Ravy Comics! Let me copy-paste this little portion of your thesis paper on why RKS fans are causing global warming, ruining the global economy, and persecuting a religious people for slaying our Lord and Savior.

"The Mfers hate fanfics they don't write themselves. Some of the stuff that is said goes beyond the pale. Rosie O'Donnell would tell these people to chill out. If you decide to give say Luste an older brother, you're a retard. (Their word.) You'd be lucky to get called just that."

Allow me to express my own opinions on fanfiction. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Magnificent Fans Guild of the Great Church of the Holy Empire L.L.C. and should be considered merely as the inane ramblings of a winter mastermind.

"Fanfiction should be plausible. Situations and relationships should have some basis in truth, and original characters should be introduced in a way that is entirely feasible and does not interfere with canon.

Ex. Do not write a fanfic about Edward Elric's sister. Edward Elric does not and never had a sister. The creation of a sister character completely destroys the entire concept that Fullmetal Alchemist revolves around: brotherhood. You can, however, write a fanfic about Edward Elric's limited interaction with a new female state alchemist who looks up to him in a brotherly way but otherwise has absolutely no effect on his life and journey or the original story."

That said, we go back to Bubbleplash's artwork of Lecht and Rink, referred to as "Richard Refraktia's sisters." Misinformation spread by the Super Justin creation led to the inference that Justin created the characters made by their respective authors, which led to an issue of fanon leaking into canon. One of our own writers is only slightly guilty of this as well; in his case, however, he clearly marked his work as "fanon," and it was still considered truth. Believe it or not, Justin has been the leader of the entire casual RKS fandom through his contributions on DeviantArt, and he has pulled a number of people in. These are the people who are not going to spend their time on Google researching RKS; we didn't even have a wiki at the time this truly started, so there was no central point for accurate RKS information (and as far as I can tell, there still isn't). I don't care if someone, be it you or Justin or some random 2ch user, wants to give Sichte and Grolla a daughter with a robot arm for a leg. Just make it clear that it has nothing to do with the original story. This is not a difficult concept to grasp.

This is the huge problem I have with the world of Touhou. Fanon becomes canon, and as a result, nothing makes sense. Alice Margatroid is often portrayed as weak or crazy, when in truth, she's neither. Game dialogue shows she's just a cocky jerk. However, fan interpretations have put actual characterization in the backseat, and as a result, everything you know is wrong. Right is up, short is hard, ef is not a tale of memories.

"Funny things is, go to the haters sites and Rosenkreuz Stilette rarely appears. So now you know another reason why I call them Magnificent Fans."

On Google, Schwer and Schwer Alike is the fourth main result for "rosenkreuzstilette". The first is the Hongfire thread providing the torrent. Second is the RKS Wiki. Third is some random fanfiction. The Schwer blog managed to beat out the Hardcore Gaming 101 and TVTropes articles! In addition, my Let's Play of RKS, the very first LP of the game, a blind playthrough done within days of the game's release, in among the first page of results and one of the first two video results! So don't you tell me that Letty Whiterock the Magnificent Hater Fan is ruining RKS. In fact, you might be saying "Letty, this wasn't about you! This was about some other people!" Let me know of the other people who consider themselves RKS fans and "trash-talked" both fanmade artwork and stories.

You know who's ruining RKS? Michael Sepperin. That said, you gave me a good laugh today, Mr. Joe Pullin, awe-inspiring creator of the greatest, man-made icon in human history, Ravy Comics. Hell, you gave me a reason to update too.

ps - For the 1.06a TL patch, we're looking for some feedback and constructive criticism of our own for a final script. Report here for details.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Some things have come to my attention, and perhaps it is my fault for not really making any notice of it, but the RKS Wiki is under fire once again. This time, I won't be fussing at anyone in particular!

This is from the interview in the back of the RKS doujin that zaku6 made:

-----

Zakuro: Oh, by the way, there's a wiki that the foreigners made, too. Can't help but worry that they'll post content the creators don't want up or just write down crazy things. Like, they wrote something about Iris and Light from Death Note having the same aim (becoming the god of a new world).

Hissatsu: Whaaaaat. Is it really alright to put up stuff like that on a wiki?

Zakuro: They might be using their wiki as more of a place to put up personal thoughts on the game. I'd at least like them to draw a line between official and unofficial information... Really, if you're going to do something, do it right. That's what I think.

-----

I don't remember when I gave the okay to post things like entire sprite rips or zaku6's doujin, but I certainly do remember telling everyone who contributes to it to only put up verifiable, factual information. Well, you didn't, and this is what a portion of the Japanese RKS fanbase thinks of us. Great job, guys!

Please remedy this for future reference. I still don't know how exactly the wiki works, but most of the images and information need to be taken down. Period. The way things are now reflects very poorly on us, and with certain people going around putting up terrible information and other people posting entire graphic rips, we now have to run damage control.

zaku6 is absolutely right: If you're going to do something, do it right.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

It's the moment you've all been waiting for! It's Schwer and Schwer Alike's Rosenkreuzstilette Fan Contest! Now, many of the Schwer readers are a very talented bunch, some in art, some in gaming skills, some in writing. Because of this, it's hard to really come up with a proper contest that doesn't alienate anyone. As a result, I have come up with a solution that will give anyone and everyone a chance at the prize.

Contest:
This competition is for true Rosenkreuzstilette fans. You love it. You play it. You draw it. Maybe you live it. So what's the challenge? Show your fandom. Use your creativity and your talents to create a masterpiece that shows the judges (me) that you are the biggest RKS fan and deserve the prize. Remember: Anyone can draw a picture. Anyone can make a website. Anyone can save a replay. However, a true fan will create something grand, something beyond that. The tools are out there, and heart and passion are what count. Go for it.

Prize:
There are two prizes being offered for the winner, though I need to send some e-mails to make sure the second prize is okay. First is Kiora's Unofficial Rosenkreuzstilette AfterStory release at Comiket 77. I received two copies, and I have put the better-looking copy aside for this contest. I'm always keeping you guys in mind! I will announce the second prize when I get the okay.

Rules and Regulations:
- If you win, you will need to provide your name and address so I can send you the prize. If you do not feel comfortable providing these, then, unless there is an alternative, you can't get anything, even if you win.
- This needs to be your work. Chances are I won't be able to run checks to confirm whether something is truly yours or not, but this contest is all in good fun, and I would hope no one is petty enough to cheat.
- Have fun with this. I'm not out to create something that will stress people out or stir up bad relations. This is meant to be a fun contest by a fan for the fans.

Additional Notes:
- Time, effort, and dedication are the keys here. Remember that expenses do not necessarily correlate to scale and result.
- If you have no interest in the contest and just want to show off your fandom, you can do that too! Be sure to note that in your submission.

Deadline:All entries must be received by April 1st, 2010. That gives you guys over two months to create your best display of RKS fandom. Whatever you do, make it awesome. To submit your work, send it to our e-mail at grollschwert@gmail.com.

At the end of the contest, I will compile every single entry for a site page or post and send a link to [erka:es] to show them that they have created something amazing and that we appreciate their hard work and ideas. It made Schwer and Schwer Alike possible, it brought us as a fandom together, through good times and bad, and it will let them know that RKS Freudenstachel's release is anticipated worldwide. I imagine that all game developers want to see the fruits of their labor appreciated, so let's make it happen. Everyone, spread the word! Let's make this the best showing of our fandom yet.

Monday, January 18, 2010

This blog is in desperate need of an overhaul in its appearance, and I was wondering if anyone could help me out with that. I don't want to use one of Blogger's default templates nor do I really want to just use some random Blogger theme. I also want to move away from using official pictures like I am now. The problem is that I am very unlearned in CSS, and I'm only starting to understand a few things about layouts.

If anyone can provide me with a new theme, I would be greatly appreciative. Please and thank you!

Welcome!

Where in the world are you? I'm glad you asked! Welcome to Schwer and Schwer Alike, the official English development blog for Rosenkreuzstilette -Blades of the Rose Cross-. "RKS" is a series of indie sidescrollers created by [erka:es] as a loving tribute to old-school gaming. The series caters to the loyal-yet-neglected Megaman fanbase and fills the void created by the cancellation of Megaman Universe and Megaman Legends 3.

Originally a dynamic duo, [erka:es] is now a one-man show run by WOMI, the series' lead artist and character designer. Should you feel so inclined, you can download free trial versions of Rosenkreuzstilette and its sequel, Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel, from the developer's official website. If you like what you see, you can purchase both games, in English, via Steam and Playism .